(a) The Secretary of State shall implement and maintain a
single, official, statewide, centralized, interactive computerized
voter registration database of every legally registered voter in
the state, as follows:

(1) The statewide voter registration database shall serve as
the single system for storing and managing the official list of
registered voters throughout the state.

(2) The statewide voter registration database shall contain
the name, registration information and voter history of every
legally registered voter in the state.

(3) In the statewide voter registration database, the
Secretary of State shall assign a unique identifier to each legally
registered voter in the state.

(4) The statewide voter registration database shall be
coordinated with other agency databases within the state and
elsewhere, as appropriate.

(5) The Secretary of State, any clerk of the county commission
or any authorized designee of the Secretary of State or clerk of
the county commission may obtain immediate electronic access to the
information contained in the statewide voter registration database.

(6) The clerk of the county commission shall electronically
enter voter registration information into the statewide voter
registration database on an expedited basis at the time the
information is provided to the clerk.

(7) The Secretary of State shall provide necessary support to
enable every clerk of the county commission in the state to enter
information as described in subdivision (6) of this subsection.

(8) The statewide voter registration database shall serve as
the official voter registration list for conducting all elections
in the state.

(b) The Secretary of State or any clerk of a county commission
shall perform maintenance with respect to the statewide voter
registration database on a regular basis as follows:

(1) If an individual is to be removed from the statewide voter
registration database, he or she shall be removed in accordance
with the provisions of 42 U. S. C.§1973gg, et seq., the National
Voter Registration Act of 1993.

(2) The Secretary of State shall coordinate the statewide
voter registration database with state agency records and shall
establish procedures for the removal of names of individuals who
are not qualified to vote because of felony status or death. No
state agency may withhold information regarding a voter's status as
deceased or as a felon unless ordered by a court of law.

(c) The list maintenance performed under subsection (b) of
this section shall be conducted in a manner that ensures that:
(1) The name of each registered voter appears in the statewide
voter registration database;

(2) Only voters who are not registered, who have requested in
writing that their voter registration be canceled or who are not eligible to vote are removed from the statewide voter registration
database;

(3) Duplicate names are eliminated from the statewide voter
registration database; and

(d) The Secretary of State and the clerks of all county
commissions shall provide adequate technological security measures
to prevent the unauthorized access to the statewide voter
registration database established under this section.

(e) The Secretary of State shall ensure that voter
registration records in the state are accurate and updated
regularly, including the following:

(1) A system of file maintenance that makes a reasonable
effort to remove registrants who are ineligible to vote from the
official list of eligible voters. Under the system, consistent
with 42 U. S. C.§1973gg, et seq., registrants who have not
responded to a notice sent pursuant to section twenty six, article
two of this chapter, who have not otherwise updated their voter
registration address and who have not voted in two consecutive
general elections for federal office shall be removed from the
official list of eligible voters, except that no registrant may be
removed solely by reason of a failure to vote;

(2) By participation in programs across state lines to share
data specifically for voter registration to ensure that voters who have moved across state lines or become deceased in another state
are removed in accordance with state law and 42 U. S. C.§1973gg, et
seq.; and

(3) Through safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not
removed in error from the official list of eligible voters.

(f) Applications for voter registration may only be accepted
when the following information is provided:

(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection
and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an
application for voter registration may not be accepted or processed
unless the application includes:

(A) In the case of an applicant who has been issued a current
and valid driver's license, the applicant's driver's license
number;

(B) In the case of an applicant who has been issued an
identification card by the Division of Motor Vehicles, the
applicant's identification number; or

(C) In the case of any other applicant, the last four digits
of the applicant's Social Security number; and

(2) If an applicant for voter registration has not been issued
a current and valid driver's license, Division of Motor Vehicles
identification card or a Social Security number, the Secretary of
State shall assign the applicant a number which will serve to
identify the applicant for voter registration purposes. The number
assigned under this subdivision shall be the unique identifying number assigned under the statewide voter registration database.

(g) The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the
Division of Motor Vehicles shall enter into an agreement to match
and transfer applicable information in the statewide voter
registration database with information in the database of the
Division of Motor Vehicles to the extent required to enable each
official to verify the accuracy of the information provided on
applications for voter registration.

(h) The Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall
enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of Social Security
under 42 U. S. C.§401, et seq., the Social Security Act. All fees
associated with this agreement shall be paid for from moneys in the
fund created under section twelve of this article.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session
The WV Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.